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NYGH to receive prestigious HIMSS award

February 1, 2017

TORONTO – North York General Hospital, a community academic hospital, has been named a 2016 HIMSS Enterprise Davies Award recipient. Since 1994, the HIMSS Nicholas E. Davies Award of Excellence has recognized outstanding achievement of organizations that have utilized health information technology (IT) to substantially improve patient outcomes.

The Davies Awards program promotes electronic health record-enabled improvement in patient outcomes through sharing of case studies and lessons learned across a wide range of efforts, including implementation strategies, workflow design, best practice development and adherence, as well as engagement that has improved care outcomes for patients.

“North York General is a testament to the importance of a collaborative, quality improvement focused approach that is truly the hallmark of the Davies Award. HIMSS congratulates North York General Hospital on receiving a Davies Award and improving the health outcomes of the patients you serve.”

North York General Hospital will be recognized at the 2017 HIMSS Conference & Exhibition, February 19-23rd in Orlando, FL. For more information on applying for the HIMSS Davies Awards of Excellence, visit the HIMSS Davies Award website. The 2017 Davies Awards submission cycle will be open from January 1 to June 30, 2017.

NYGH submitted four case studies demonstrating how they leveraged health IT to improve patient outcomes.

NYGH implemented closed-loop medication administration (CLMA.) By leveraging information technology at every step in the process, CLMA eliminated manual entry of medications and fires an alert if a medication about to be administered does not match the drug, dose, route, timing and/or intended patient indicated in the active orders on the electronic chart. From 2010-2015, NYGH has prevented more than 11,000 medication errors using CLMA.

Through the use of computerized provider order entry (CPOE) and clinical decision support in the form of order sets and alerts, NYGH cut expected VTE occurrences in half.

Through safety and quality initiatives driven through CPOE, clinical decision support and medication reconciliation, NYGH significantly lowered the probability of in-hospital death from medication errors, pneumonia and exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

“The challenge of implementing change of this scope and scale was immense, but possible, thanks to great teamwork and a constant focus on the quality and safety benefits we are celebrating today,” said Dr. Tim Rutledge (pictured), president and CEO, North York General Hospital (pictured). “Receiving the Davies Award is a reflection of the commitment to excellence of our people, the staff and physicians who made it happen.”

One of Canada’s leading community academic hospitals, NYGH offers a wide range of acute, ambulatory and long-term care services across three sites (inclusive of 419 acute care inpatient beds) covering the south-central region of Ontario, centered on Toronto. NYGH’s 5,000+ staff, physicians and volunteers serve one of the most culturally diverse communities in Canada with a population of over 400,000 people.

“At NYGH, our goal is to design, implement and improve health IT solutions that achieve the best possible outcomes for our patients, families and staff,” said Jeremy Theal, gastroenterologist and chief medical information officer at NYGH. “We are proud to be recognized as a world leader in these efforts, and will continue to share our lessons learned so other healthcare organizations can achieve similar benefits.”

About HIMSSHIMSS is a global, cause-based, not-for-profit organization focused on better health through information technology (IT). HIMSS leads efforts to optimize health engagements and care outcomes using information technology. HIMSS is a cause-based, global enterprise producing health IT thought leadership, education, events, market research and media services around the world. Founded in 1961, HIMSS encompasses more than 64,000 individuals, of which more than two-thirds work in healthcare provider, governmental and not-for-profit organizations across the globe, plus over 640 corporations and 450 not-for-profit partner organizations, that share this cause. HIMSS, headquartered in Chicago, serves the global health IT community with additional offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

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